Pioneers of Science

Transcriber’s Note
The punctuation and spelling from the original text have been faithfully preserved. Only obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
This text contains a few phrases in Greek, with English transliterations given as mouse hover pop-ups: φενόμενα Your browser should be set to read the UTF-8 character set.
NEWTON From the picture by Kneller, 1689, now at Cambridge
BY OLIVER LODGE, F.R.S. PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS IN VICTORIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LIVERPOOL WITH PORTRAITS AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
London
MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1893
Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, LONDON AND BUNGAY.
This book takes its origin in a course of lectures on the history and progress of Astronomy arranged for me in the year 1887 by three of my colleagues (A.C.B., J.M., G.H.R.), one of whom gave the course its name.
The lectures having been found interesting, it was natural to write them out in full and publish.
If I may claim for them any merit, I should say it consists in their simple statement and explanation of scientific facts and laws. The biographical details are compiled from all readily available sources, there is no novelty or originality about them; though it is hoped that there may be some vividness. I have simply tried to present a living figure of each Pioneer in turn, and to trace his influence on the progress of thought.
I am indebted to many biographers and writers, among others to Mr. E.J.C. Morton, whose excellent set of lives published by the S.P.C.K. saved me much trouble in the early part of the course.